2-(2,2-diethoxyethyl)propane-1,3-diol

Conditions: temp:75.01; pressure:0.00; stir:; See reaction.notes.procedure_details.

Procedure: To the mixture of 4,5-dihydroxy-phthalonitrile (2.50 g, 15.6 mmol), 2-(2,2-diethoxy-ethyl)-propane-1,3-diol (4.5 g, 23.4 mmol) and triphenylphosphine (6.138 g, 23.4 mmol) in THF (40 mL) was added diethyl azodicarboxylate (4.08 g, 23.4 mmol) and the resulting mixture heated at 75° C. overnight. The resulting mixture was then cooled to room temperature and evaporated in vacuo to yield a solid, which was purified via flash column chromatography (EA/Hex 2:3) to yield 3-(2,2-diethoxyethyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]dioxepine-7,8-dicarbonitrile as a white solid. MS MH+=317, 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.29 (s, 2H), 4.58 (m, 1H), 4.46 (m, 2H), 4.19 (m, 2H), 3.66 (m, 2H), 3.52 (m, 2H), 2.60 (m, 1H), 1.78 (m, 2H), 1.20 (t, J=7.0 Hz, 6H). The resulting mixture was then cooled to room temperature evaporated in vacuo to yield a solid, which was purified via flash column chromatography (EA/Hex 2:3)

Conditions: temp:0.00; pressure:0.00; stir:; See reaction.notes.procedure_details.

Procedure: To a cooled suspension (0° C.) of lithium aluminum hydride (4.9 g, 0.129 mol) in anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (80 mL), was added a solution of diethyl 2,2-diethoxyethylmalonate (17.6 g, 63.7 mmol) in anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (60 mL), and the mixture was stirred 3 h at room temperature. Then, the reaction mixture was immersed in an ice bath and a mixture of water (4.6 mL) and tetrahydrofuran (9.2 mL) was added dropwise followed by a solution of 15% sodium hydroxide (4.6 mL) and water (12.5 mL). After stirring for 20 minutes, the suspension was filtered off, the solvent was removed at reduced pressure, and 300 mL of chloroform was added. The solution was dried over sodium sulfate and after removal of the solvent, 8.8 g of a white solid was obtained and used in the next step without further purification. Then, the reaction mixture was immersed in an ice bath was added dropwise After stirring for 20 minutes the suspension was filtered off the solvent was removed at reduced pressure, and 300 mL of chloroform was added The solution was dried over sodium sulfate after removal of the solvent